welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. >> the men and women of the intelligence community, including the nsa, consistently follow protocols designed to protect ordinary people. >> the president says changes will be made, but the intelligence community is not abusing its power. plus new questions about the safety of the water in west virginia. and firefighters trying to stamp out those wildfires burning in southern california. ♪

president obama giving that much-anticipated address on the nsa surveillance programs, announcing he is making changes acknowledging his critics but adding the programs are needed. the address following months of reports that the national security agency spies on its allies and collects the data on millions of people, many americans. mike viqueira will it be enough? >> del, what should the united states do in terms of gathering intelligence? how far should it go airing on the side of position thattal security, versus what can the united states do? technology is increasing its ability by leaps and bounds every day. so the president speaking in this context saying there does need to be a rebalancing, but defending very stoutly not only the national security agency, and the people in it, but saying

the programs have prevented many attacks over the last several years. let's look at the meat of what the president talked about today. the 215, section 215 of the code, the bulk meta data collection from virtually everyone in this country. it's not the content of the calls but merely the flow of calls. the president says he wants that to continue, but doesn't want the government to be collecting that data any longer, or storing that data any longer. he has asked the congress and director of national intelligence to look at ways in which that program can be reformed. and the president says from now when agencies want access to that data they are going to have to go to the fifa court that entertains those sorts of cases. the president also saying that there will be that extra step involved as well. now surveillance on foreigners,

the so-called 702 section of the code there. the president says he is going to be looking at that quite carefully. and the united states is doing what most every other country does. matter of fact it is much more transparent than any of the other countries around the world, and some are feigning surprise. nonetheless the president puts the figure at dozens, dozens will no longer be eavesdropped on. of course there was that famous case a few months ago involving ange ange ange angela merkel. and also asking for information, the president says from now on that secrecy will not be indefinite. and is ordering further reviews

but no concrete steps really posed by the president. and finally back to the fisa court. he say he is proposing putting an advocate for the public within fisa court, so there will be someone there to speak up for the public's right to privacy, del. >> mike thank you very much. and the president also talking about edward snowden. he says the public concerns don't take away the damage that snowden did. >> the sensational way these disclosures havement come out has often shed more heat than light, while revealing information to our adversaries that we may not know the effect of for years to come.

he is one of the most famous government whistleblowers in decades, and yet edward snowden began his leaks just seven÷ acrd

the official tally is still 1700 today. it is 30% contained, which is a good figure. they do these reports twice a day, so we'll get a good growth on that figure probably by the end of the day. a lot of people here. they have helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft. this was really a dicey situation yesterday morning. this fire started at about dawn. it was started accidentally by three campers up in this the hills. and firefighters really didn't know which way it was going to go in the early hours of that fire. fortunately the wind conditions were in that favor. the fire burned mostly uphill, although it did take out five houses and 17 other structures.

they are getting a handle on this. and i think it will be pretty well in control within the next day or so. >> i was fascinated to read that firefighters are so concerned about the dry conditions out there that fire crews are being stationed in place just in case so if a fire breaks out they can respond quickly. >> well, it's unusual. this -- the last year has been one of the driest in california history. jerry brown just this morning declared a state-wide drought emergency. for it to be this dry in january is really kind of scary, because it's not that hot. you get six months from now, and the temperatures hit 100 degrees, so firefighters have to be ready. they move so quickly. you can see a fire move a mile in less than an hour, so yep, they have to be ready for it. brian rooney joining us live from california thank you very

much. and as you heard just a short while ago, california governor jerry brown declaring a state of emergency in response to the severe drought conditions. northern and central california hit hardest by the conditions. melissa chan is live right now about two hours north of san francisco. has the drought effected the state's agriculture there? >> well, del what is really interesting is we have been told that farmers have made a switch in terms of crops from seasonal crops to more what they call permanent crops such as almond and pistachio trees. so when a drought happens it severely challenges the farmers and their ability to continue to function. we're sere and surrounded the

vineyards, and the residents themselves have been effected. the city has decided on a mandatory water conservation effort. we managed to catch up with the mayor, and this is what she had to say. >> we're low on water. we're in no one the worse office, but we're the only way that seem to being proactive. so when we noticed our water levels were low, we enacted an emergency plan and declared a water emergency in willlots and required our citizens to conservative their water usage to 150 gallons a day. and our town has stepped up, curved water, which is allowing us to use our existing water supply for much longer. >> we were able to visit the

reservoir that the town is entirely dependent on. it relies solely on rain water, and we have halfway through the rain season, and they said usually there are 16 feet of water above us. >> meliss the bought effecting not only firefighters to the south, but also the agricultural picture to the north. googlel planning on

14 people were killed in a bombing in a restaurant in kabul afghanistan today. three suicide bombers were involved. it happened in a neighborhood that is home to several embassies and console lates.

the taliban with claiming responsibility for the attack. the death toll in south sudan now topping 100,000. thousands being forced to flee their home. and children being separated from their families, creating a new generation of lost boys. >> reporter: when the fighting in south sudan got out of hand, this boy and clutched his bible and ran. his father could not keep up. he was shot dead in the cross fire. he walked for three days before getting a ride to the un border. >> people were killing people. and that's [ inaudible ] on the river, very many people have died. it is only god that has kept me alive this day. because i was running i don't think if i could survive.

>> roughly 80% crossing the border every day are children. they are either separated from their parents or relatives along the way or orphaned. it's a repeat of what happened during the 20-year war with sudan. aid workers called them the lost boys. un teams are stilling a saying the numbers, but hundreds are believed to be among the new rifles here. >> the main challenge, how do we settle these childrens in -- within the current population. you see children who are sick. you also have young pregnant teenagers. >> reporter: when the children arrive here they are interviewed to determine their need and see if they have any relatives in the camp they are kept in this area where they are given temporary shelter before being

settled into camps. guards keep a close eye on the gate. but this is not exactly an orderly place. in the confusion one of the unaccompanied boys followed the crowd and got on the truck with one of these families. luckily he was found and brought back here. this is one of the tents where unaccompanied children stay. they are fed three times a day. but not everyone has an appetite these three got separated from their mother as they fled the city. >> translator: what would happen to us if my mother has died. we are only children. we can't do anything. >> reporter: the conflict has not only deprived them of their home and families. it also took away their childho childhood innocence. some 500,000 people have been displaced so far in the

world's newest country. many of them children. ♪ you might call it a reversal of fortunes on wall street yesterday -- yesterday the dow was down and now it is up about a third of a%. the commerce reporting that december housing starts fell nearly 10% to just under 1 million units. the year to year units were much better, rising to levels not seen before the housing bubble burst. and ali velshi is going to be talking to some of the most important people in business in the finance world next week. you can see his reports throughout the day and on his show, "real money" with ali velshi at 7:00 pm right here on al jazeera america. a graek through from people suffering from diabetes.

google unveiling lens that test the sugar level in tears. >> reporter: up to eight times a day, people with diabetes need to check their blood sugar levels. >> we're testing a smart contact lens that we built that measures the glucose level in tears. this prototype looks and feels like a regular soft con contact lens, but inside of it we have a tiny chip that allows to continually monitor the blood glucose levels. >> reporter: the results can be send to a smartphone or computer. and they are also considering putting tiny lights into the lens. it is not the first such

project, microsoft has been working on a similar lens. another smart contact lens has been developed about a swiss company. google says it diabetic smart lens is at an early level of development. and it is likely to be five years before it is available to the public. innovations the developers hope in time will improve our health. it is no secret that smoking kills, and now there are more reasons to think twice before lighting up, a new report by the surgeon general adding new diseases to the list of smoking related illnesses, including type two diabetes, rum toid

authorize advertise and others. >> today we call upon all americans to continue to work to advance this old and noble cause as americans, we know we can achieve great things when we dedicate ourselves to a mission. >> when we come back, london is the place to be. we'll tell you what tourists have to say about one of the busiest cities in the world.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are your headlines at this hour. president obama just announcing some changes to the government's surveillance programs. all of those months of reports, the national security agency spies on its allies and collects data on millions word wide including americans.

the taps may still be tainted. that is the concern of some health officials in west virginia. local pediatricians say babies and small children should not be drinking from the taps. that 1700 acre wildfire continues to burn near los angeles. today california's governor declaring a drought emergency. ♪ i'm dave warren. that's exactly what we will start. the dry worth out-west. we need a few storms at least to get a lot of snow into those mountains, that's what provides a lot of water and moisture for the state. about 10% of average is what we have right now. we don't have red flag warnings

in effect right now, but that's exactly what due to the fire. we need these storms to be tracking right off of the ocean into the state, but we're not getting that. high-pressure is keeping the pattern like this. the storms go up and then down the eastern side of the rockies. the santa ana winds are really kicking up. you can see that with the satellite picture. across canada and across the eastern slope of the rockies, and no signs of changing at least in the next two to three weeks. it's warm and dry there, but another shot of arctic air, the temperatures are above zero, barely, but just some arctic area across ohio and across the midwest. not much is changing here over the next few days, in fact few weeks, looks like not much of a change. this area of cold air pushes to

the east, storm intensifies but the track looks to be a little bit too far off of the coast. maybe just a little light snow, but the storm is staying off of the coast both saturday and sunday. temps, there they. 37 in in rapid city, 46 degrees in denver. it feels like it is below zero with the wind chill. the cold air will push east, but that storm just a little too far off of the coast to impact the cities. dell? >> dave warren thank you very much. finally tourists all over the world can hear london calling. the number of visitors soaring by almost 20% last summer. officials in the ushsk the total figures would likely hit 16 million. that would make london the most

popular decembera